Blown 426 or 440 for 70 charger build.

[NastyBoss302]

Hello everyone, I apologize in advance if this Q has been brought up a million times but everyone on here seems pretty darn knowledgeable and would like your opinion, and don't want to have to call dozens of engine builders to get their opinion. My Grandfather recently passed away and left me his 70 Charger. This is my first mopar/restoration project and its a roller in decent shape to say the least. So my question is this: if you had 25-30K to spend on just the engine would you go with a blown 440 or the 426 and why? id prefer something that's streetable yet somewhat reliable. If you have the time and don't mind comment how your would do your build if you had the funds  

[ACUDANUT]

Really, a Blown 426 tops everything.   Look at what keith blacks Hemi's on rail cars.  They do 4.5 sec on a 1/4 mile. 

[303 Mopar]

What is your mechanical experience?  The more you add the more complex it gets, and reliability becomes a challenge.  A blown Hemi that does a 4.5 1/4 is not exactly "streetable". 

[Lord Warlock]

You may want to drive a 440 or 426 before you supercharge it, blown hemi's aren't really that streetable, usually that is. 

[Lennard]

If I were you, I'd go with the 426 Hemi. It looks bad ass with those fat heads and valve covers. 

[Mike DC]

            
If that budget figure is for the whole resto then you might wanna slow down a bit.  You can easily dump $25-30k into the body/interior/chassis on a 1970 Charger resto.  


As for the motors, these days the options for customizing all the motors are so diverse that you can get huge power out of almost anything.  Some have different traits than others.  440s are cheap & powerful.  Smallblocks are physically lighter weight (for handling/braking).  Etc.  

The (old classic) Hemi engines will always have a certain mystique.  But there are cheaper (and lighter) ways to get XXX amount of horsepower from the other motors.  The big old Hemis don't become the most cost effective way to make a given HP figure until that figure gets pretty damn high.  Like 4 digits.

[Lord Warlock]

if going for impressive looks, nothing beats the hemi.  But,  finding a mechanic that can tune one these days is getting harder to find.  That was always the situation in the 70s was that a hemi was king...if it was tuned properly, but if not, a 440 would beat it on the street, and not many owners understood how to properly tune a hemi, a 440 was easier to deal with. 

If the car is needing any refreshing, I'd suggest fixing it up first before blowing big bucks on a motor,  even starting with a car in very good condition, it still took well over 20k to build.  And would have been even more if I paid someone else to do the work for me. 

[NastyBoss302]

No no that's just the motor, and that was my main concern is tuning. I'm having trouble finding people to tune my turbo Boss 302  so I can't imangine a badass hemi! It would be nice to not put all of that into the motor if I don't have to to make say 6-700or whatever the #is. I know it would be badass to have a hemi in there but I'm just looking for what's cost effective and not going overkill But I mean if I have to then I have to. The over all budget for this project is around 60k. Interior I'm not too worried about either.

[Lord Warlock]

Interior is really a pittance compared to body work, think I spent about 1000 on new legendary pieces, 800 for a vinyl top (at a time when tan tops weren't available) and let a friend with an interior shop install both for a really fair price.  It adds up quick.  For half the cost of the hemi, you could go for the 440.  If you plan on showing it off at shows gatherings etc, I'd say the Hemi by itself is plenty of motor and tends to pull the crowds over, adding a blower will complicate tuning in a major way, if you've turbo'd a boss 302 (I'm seeing the new boss not the old boss) you'll know it changes from the normal twister of screwdrivers to someone trained to tune for a living.  My stealth twin turbo taught me in the 90s I could not tune every car, and its better to pay a shop to fix.

Don't let me convince superchargers are bad, I just bought one for my 2010 challenger RT, it changes the car from one I could probably tune myself to one I'll be paying someone to install and tune it for me.  But I pretty much pay for others to tune all my cars except the ones I gave to my kids, and my 69 charger, the basic 440 is not hard to tune, the more you put into one the more tricky It seems to get. 

[1974dodgecharger]

Theres a reason drag cars are HEMIs and not 440s....though it be hard to street a HEMI for daily abuse with its gobs of power....

[out there]

My vote would be on a HEMI. It might not be the best option on drive ability but, a good overdrive trans would solve that. Tune ability, not sure about the blower.
Just never had one. Looking forward to seeing this come together   

[SRT-440]

Whatever you choose do EFI and have the ecu control timing..will be easier that way and will run better. 

[crj1968]

Streetable....Blown.... Hemi     




I'd love to see some pics of Grandpa's (RIP) car as it is now. 

[NastyBoss302]

Thank you for the replies and advice guys, much appreciated once summer comes around ill be kicking this project off!!

[Challenger340]

IMO, nothing beats the WOW factor of a Blown HEMI for eye candy ?
That said,
I think you may be "light" at $25-$30K for the Blown HEMI engine by itself, if it's done properly at any reputable Shops that are any good ?

And then....
you could easily spend another $10K on the Car itself and Support Systems etc., to support the Blown HEMI once installed in the Car ?
Trans ?
Fuel delivery system ?
Cooling ?
Exhaust ?
Bullet proof rear end ?
Frame Connectors ? Body stiffening ? Suspension ?

[ACUDANUT]

IMO, You don't need efi.

[Lord Warlock]

The thing about a blown hemi is that if they had a Blown Hemi on the left and a blown 440 on the right, like a moth to a flame, I'd be drawn to the left and stare at it in lustful ways that endanger bank accounts. Those valve covers and plugs right out the middle...doesn't matter how you pretty up a 440, the hemi always wins. (and I've got a 440) regret passing up the one chance I had to buy a hemi on the cheap, when I could afford it. Only had one chance in 38 years, course can blame kids for the lack. but in truth it was youthful indiscretion...had to repair dad's car after bumping a friend too hard.  Will be interested to hear how it comes out.

   

[Rolling_Thunder]

Honestly having some experience with both types of blown engines...    a blown 440 was way more turn key - fire it up and drive anywhere for years on end. Swap to a blown Hemi and things immediately started being problematic...    sure it made power but it also started breaking everything - 4-speeds, differentials, body twist....      etc.  This was on a long lost member's truck here. He ended up selling the Hemi. 

[ACUDANUT]

let's start a thread on "show mw your Blown Chargers".